On the history of the church:

"Jesus said 'feed my lambs' but instead, it seems that too often we have chosen to slaughter them."

I don't mean this to be cynical about the nature of our history but to realize that that has been fact. I pray that by realizing the mistakes we have made, there is hope for us to become better in the future, to become more like Jesus intends for us to be.

On sharing the Truth of the Gospel:

"In the beginning, the Word became flesh and lived among us. If the Kingdom is the flourish today, the Word must become flesh and live IN us."

The moral dilemma of Albertans

First, let me set the stage. A battle is waging in the Western Conference of the NHL and the prize is a playoff spot. Edmonton is hot on the heels of Calgary, tied with Vancouver, and closely trailed by teams like San Jose and LA. When all is said and done, they're still vying for the last playoff spot.

So, that brings me to my dilemma. Today, through a series of events, I ended up with a ticket to tonight's Calgary/Vancouver game. Tell me this: in this situation, who does an Edmonton fan cheer for? What's a girl to do?

(For the record, Calgary won 2-1, Iggy with the winning goal and Kipper playing fantastic!)

Today's reads...

Mark Buchanan, The Rest Of God

Eugene Peterson, Living the Resurrection

Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

Eric Sandras, Buck-naked Faith: A Brutally Honest Look at Stunted Christianity

Acts 17:24-28

Something that I read the other night. It's a pretty good summary. Check it out...

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and
earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by
human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and
breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they
should inhabit the whole earth.; and he determined the times set for them and
the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would
seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from
each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being."

3-2 Edmonton beat Vancouver...

finally! It took them till the 3rd game of a three game series but they finally did it and it's a good thing. I wouldn't have been able to show my face at the office if my boys hadn't pulled it out. Still not holding a playoff spot and ony 80 points worth of games to go. Yikes!

On a much more victorious note, Villanova beat Boston College in overtime on a goal tending call. Ridiculous! On to the elite 8!

Oh the madness!

I love March! Better yet, I love March madness!!! I have to confess, I'm one of those NCAA fans that only watches during the tournament but I love it. Talk about excitement...we've got all four #1 seed teams making it through to the Sweet 16. From there, it's anybody's ball game...really.

Duke is out! LSU made it look easy. Gonzaga's gone although UCLA had a harder time with them. Upsets and cindarella stories. This is the time to shine.

I'd like to see George Mason make it through. Let's let the 11th seed underdog take all. That's more of a dream than a pick though. No predictions yet. I'm not a gambler.

I'm looking forward to the Memphis/UCLA game. I think that will tell us a little bit more.

Ah the energy, the competition, the frenzy! I love it.

Did I mention that I was explaining to the boys today about the scores and stats! Yikes. I might have to host something for the elite 8 next weekend to get them all up to speed. This shouldn't be...who would have thought that I would be this excited about NCAA? Ah, but I love March!

Off to finish the sweet 16!!!

Perhaps we should aim a little higher...

Today is just the beginning...

So here I am, joining the blogging bandwagon. I have to admit, I can't tell you quite yet whether this is a good or bad decision. We'll see how well I do with it.

For today, I thought that I would share some of the things that I've been reading about God, life and the church. (Is anyone else feeling "mission statement" as you read these?)

"My conviction is that the church is the community that God has set at the center of the world to keep the world centered." (Eugene Peterson, Living the Resurrection, p.12)

"We are afraid of losing what we have, whether its our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were all written by the same hand." (Paulo Cohelo, The Alchemist, p.70)

"A faith in which I'm working together with Jesus needs me to see my story as part of His. It urges me to discover how my story reflects and connects with the overarching story of a just and gracious God, who throughout history has loved and sought after a rebellious humanity." (Eric Sanders, Buck Naked Faith, p. 35)

"We are real people who know and worship a real Jesus who helps us overcome real problems so we can become real testimonies of his love and faithfulness." (Eric Sanders, Buck Naked Faith, p. 111)

It makes me think about kingdom life and about kingdom prayers. It makes me think about myself - my life, my job, my faith - in light of the larger story that God is writing and in light of the community I find myself in. As I look forward to the adventure of the new church plant I'm a part of, Journey Church (www.journeychurch.ca), I can't help but think that all of these random thoughts, these spare parts, are building in me eye sight that that sees what's important. When I get to the end of my life, I want to be able to say that I was a real follower of the real Jesus and that I lived with real people facing real problems and real joys. I want to be able to know that I met them there and, because of that meeting and because Jesus is real in me, that they met Him.

So, hopefully this sets the tone for where I'm headed. Spare parts. Random thoughts and reflections. The good, the bad, and the ugly.